Piercing Pens

Police arrested without warrant this morning an organizer for the leftist Bayan Muna party-list organization, according to the office of Rep. Joel Virador.

Jesi Carandang was in a jeep with residents of Onyx in Sta. Ana, Manila to join the rally in Ayala when he was arrested. No case was filed against him but he was detained at Dagonoy Precint 1 in Onyx, Sta. Ana. He was only released when Virador insisted that the arrest has no basis. Virador described the incident as a harassment of anti-Arroyo protest organizers.

Yesterday, we were expecting a “Gloria Resign” call from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). But while they asked the Arroyo to think things over, they did not join Cory Aquino, the opposition, the Makati Business Club, and the Left, as well as the netizens in their call for Arroyo to step down.

The biggest issue they had to speak about was Mrs. Arroyo’s alleged rigging of the results of last year’s presidential election. In the past, the CBCP strongly condemned election fraud. Its statement after the 1986 snap elections –which was heavily manipulated by the Marcos administration–said:

According to moral principles, a government that assumes or retains power through fraudulent means has no moral basis. For such an access to power is tantamount to a forcible seizure and cannot command the allegiance of the citizenry. The most we can say then, about such a government, is that it is a government in possession of power. But admitting that, we hasten to add: Because of that very fact, that same government itself has the obligation to right the wrong it is founded on. It must respect the mandate of the people. This is precondition for any reconciliation.

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Arroyo must be jumping with joy now. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines stated it does not demand Arroyo’s resignation and wants the constitutional process to prevail.

The Catholic Bishops still haven’t come out with a statement on the current political crisis but the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines has already called on President Arroyo to resign. The AMRSP is composed of 195 Catholic congregations for religious women and 93 for men. (INQ7). During the Estrada Juetengate scandal, the group also called on Erap to step down.

Meanwhile, Rose posted Gloria-Resign buttons for bloggers and webmasters at her site. “Ito po ay petiton para sa huwad na si arroyo na magresign na! at tayo ay magkaisang isigaw sa kanya na wala na syang karapatang maging pangulo,” she wrote. On the left is one of the buttons she posted.

It’s sickening to watch Arroyo’s apologists defending Gloria on television. They sound like Iglesia ni Cristo and dating Daan ministers hurling insults against their opponents.

It’s also ironic that among the President’s staunch defenders are Mike Defensor and Migs Zubiri–two members of the group of younc congressmen once known as Spice Boys–who figured prominently in the resign-impeach-oust Estrada movement. How could this people forget that they once joined street protests in pursuit of “truth and justice.” (more…)

This morning, ten Cabinet members and other officials resigned and called on Mrs. Arroyo to step down. The chorus grew louder in the afternoon with similar statements from former President Aquino, the Liberal Party, and the Makati Business Club.

While her allies in Malacañang, Congress and local government units desperately defend the beleaguered president, followers of Fernando Poe Jr. and members of the militants groups gather at Ayala Avenue to continue calling for Arroyo’s resignation.

Meanwhile, Filipino netizens join the resign call through GMAResignNow.com, an online petition initiated by Enteng Romano of eLagda. Romano led eLagda’s Erap Resign Internet campaign in 2001.

From the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines:

A radio brodcaster was shot dead by still unidentified gunmen in General Santos City on Sunday afternoon.

Dodong Morales, anchorman of “Tingog sa Barangay” (Voice of the Village) program of Radio Mindanao Network, was inside his car when eight motorcycle-riding gunmen shot him around 5:30 pm.

He was the sixth Filipino mediaperson killed this year and the 69th since 1986 when democracy was restored in the country. (more…)